5 People Who Turned Awful Disabilities Into Superpowers

The next time you're ready to call in sick because you got a paper cut on that really painful place between your thumb and pointer finger, you might want to consider the following stories. These folks not only didn't let horrific injuries and life destroying disabilities get them down, they actually turned them into superpowers.

That's right. Both were decorated WWII pilots who racked up impressive records after crash landing their legs right the hell off. It's not just a bizarre coincidence.

Maresyev could probably have frowned an enemy pilot to death.

The explanation lies with Hodgkinson, our third Ace of WWII, who lost his legs while practicing an aerial exercise blindfolded. Or more specifically, the answer lies with the follow-up question that story is likely to elicit: WHY WOULD THEY ENCOURAGE PEOPLE TO FLY A MILLION DOLLAR PIECE OF EQUIPMENT WHILE FREAKING BLINDFOLDED?

THIS IS A TERRIBLE IDEA

How It's An Advantage:

Unlike the Cracked Summer Intern Post-It Eating Contest, pilots didn't fly "blind" because their superiors needed something hilarious to gamble on. Being able to fly without actually seeing anything was a part of a fighter pilots job thanks to a little something called G-force. As pilots and roller coaster enthusiasts will tell you, G-force is fine in moderation. But ramp up the G's and that delightful tingle you get in your man pouch at the top of the first hill of a roller coaster can drain all the blood from your head, leaving you temporarily blind or, less temporarily, dead.

The fighter planes of the Second World War were capable of all kinds of airborne acrobatics that found pilots' bodies moving in the opposite direction of their blood. Dogfights were a constant balance between out-maneuvering the guy trying to turn you into confetti, and trying not to steer the sight out of your eyes. One hairpin turn and you'd find yourself with all the blood your brain needs for seeing down in your feet. Or at least, that was a problem for people who had legs for their blood to drain into.

And ass they did kick. Throughout his legless career, Bader took out more than 22 German planes in less than two years. Maresyev completed over 86 combat missions, shot down 11 enemy aircraft (three in a single dogfight) and won the Golden Star of the Hero of the Soviet Union. While Hodgkinson had less time in the air without legs, he managed two kills during the war, the second of which saved the life of Percy "Laddie" Lucas's life, who went on to be the hero of the Siege of Malta, one of the most strategically important battles in all of WWII.

Cracked ranks it as the fourth best battle to watch while totally baked.

When taken in its entirety, it's pretty clear that Marvel could be minting money if they'd latched onto Hodgkinson's story: After losing his legs to an accident that is meant to prepare him for the effects of G-force in battle, he wakes up with an uncanny immunity to the effects of G-force, goes on to take out an F-14 with the oddly ironic superpower his origin story gave him, indirectly allowing the Allies to win one of the most important battles of the most important war in modern history.

Love is a crazy thing. You never know when it's going to sneak up on you or who you might fall for. One minute you're enjoying the single life and WHAM! You're standing on top of the Eiffel Tower, one of the most romantic locations in the world, ass over tea kettle in love! Also... you're completely alone.

You see Erika has objectum sexuality (OS) a rare disorder in which women are attracted to objects. She "married" the Eiffel Tower in 2007 and changed her name to reflect the bond. Her other love affairs include the Golden Gate Bridge and the Berlin Wall. While we should all be so lucky to find a partner so solid, grounded and extremely well endowed...

...Mrs. Eiffel's affliction is both medically recognized, and the 20th century equivalent of being gay in the Old West. You're unlikely to win many friends in high school after explaining that, no, you like reeeeally love that bridge two towns over (Erika's first crush). Erika spent her first 30 years hiding her true feelings from the world "for the sake of self preservation," settling for easy to hide and transport inanimate objects such as the piece of fence she keeps in her room.

How It's An Advantage:

One of the first inanimate objects Erika slummed it with was a bow she named "Lance." While holding inanimate objects close enough to smell is raises a few eyebrows in most settings, Erika found solace in the world of archery.

Erika, on her way to the home of that kid who spread the rumor about her and a bed post in high school.

#3. Dustin Carter

Who?

Dustin Carter is a wrestler. Now 20-years old, he became news worthy two years ago, after he had a 41-2 season at Hillsboro High School near Cincinnati, Ohio. While you may assume this is what passes as "newsworthy" in Ohio...

BREAKING NEWS: Still growing...

The Condition:

...Dustin's story has also been told all over the country and the world as proof that anything is possible with a little hard work. Why is some high school wrestler getting all of this attention?

When he was five-years old, he contracted a rare blood disease that claimed all four of his limbs. As the homeless Vets rolling through New York City's subway system will be glad to tell you, life without legs is hard enough. Losing both his legs, and half of each arm was no less challenging for Dustin, who grew up depressed and a straight "F" student.

How It's An Advantage:

All of that changed in the eighth grade when he discovered wrestling. The sport allowed him to put his disability behind him, and in his first head to head match-up with his opponent... well, he got his ass kicked. What did you expect?

But with extensive training, lots of practice and a patient coach Dustin learned to make his disability work for him, and eventually made it all the way to the Division II state finals.

Concentrated awesomeness.

One of the most important skills a wrestler can have is the ability to "drop weight." For most wrestlers, this involves doing unhealthy things to your body to sweat off pounds before weigh-in and then doing even more unhealthy things to your body to regain your natural weight before the actual match. But it's all worth it when you step on the mat against a lighter opponent, and get to toss him around like a rag doll.

Or so we're told.

Having dropped all the weight he needed to when he lost his arms and legs, Dustin's 103 pounds put him easily into the smallest weight category for his sport. However, compared to his opponents, who had to jog around in trash bags before lugging their pain in the ass arms and legs with them, Dustin was proportionally much stronger.

Speaking of arms and legs, the part of wrestling that doesn't involve weighing yourself like you're being exchanged in a drug deal revolves around getting people's limbs in various, uncomfortable holds. Dustin was a tough matchup for the same reason that lefty pitchers are coveted in baseball: They're not what people are used to. How good you are as a wrestler is all about how good you are at getting someone in an arm bar, or bending their leg behind their head. For Dustin's opponent's it was just unorthodox, it must have been like stepping into the batter's box against a pitcher who could throw an 80 MPH knuckler with his toes.

This made him unorthodox enough to get by people, even though his lack of limbs made the whole tossing them around like a rag doll thing pretty much impossi-